Lighting helps video production experts present their footage with very specific tones. In some cases, lighting can create a warm, welcoming tone, whereas sometimes it creates a more intense mood.
Let’s focus on one prevalent lighting method—soft lighting. If you want to learn more about professional video lighting, start with our brief guide to using soft panel lighting systems.
Summarizing Soft Lighting
We often refer to softness when we talk about the texture of an object or surface. However, soft is a term with additional meanings, especially when it comes to video production. Soft lighting refers to diffusing harsh lighting to create a more natural look.
Doing this requires a soft box, which sounds precisely like what it is. This common piece of professional video studio lighting equipment is a hollow box in which you place an LED light.
How Soft Panels Influence the Footage
Harsh shadows create a very distinct look, but it’s not always the ideal or preferred approach for every project. If you want to reduce harsh shadows on set, one of the most common and reliable ways to do it is with soft panel lighting systems.
By diffusing the light source, the panels allow the light to smooth out shadows by wrapping more comprehensively around the subject in front of your camera. In doing so, the lights can also soften additional skin flaws that appear more easily under harsh light sources.
An Essential for Your Inventory
This brief guide to using soft panel lighting systems exemplifies how simple yet impactful soft lighting techniques can be. However, soft panels don’t have to be your sole light source in the scene. More accurately, soft panel lighting is one piece of a comprehensive, professional-grade inventory.
This means you can reach for soft lighting when you need it to illuminate a space on its own, or you need extra assistance eliminating shadows. Stock your inventory with soft lighting equipment so that you can alter your footage’s tone whenever necessary.